Download White Paper: Formulary Development at Express Scripts

White Paper: Formulary Development at Express Scripts
Express Scripts works with health-benefit plan sponsors and individual members of health plans to provide
affordable access to clinically sound, high-quality pharmaceutical products. Drug formularies are one
method of achieving this result.
From time to time, Express Scripts receives questions about how it develops formularies that are both
clinically sound and cost-effective. This white paper is designed to answer those questions. The Express
Scripts’ formulary development process is based on the following principles:
1. Clinical appropriateness of the drug, not cost, is Express Scripts’ foremost consideration.
2. The prescribing physician always makes the final decision regarding an individual patient’s drug
therapy.
3. Express Scripts will develop clinically sound formularies based on evaluations of independent
physicians.
Consistent with these principles, Express Scripts offers a variety of standard formularies. Plan sponsors,
based on their own unique situation, can select a formulary that is most appropriate for their members.
How Express Scripts Develops Formularies
Express Scripts has many years of formulary development expertise and an extensive clinical pharmacy
department. Express Scripts develops formularies through a four-step process involving the work of three
distinct committees:
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Therapeutic Assessment Committee
National Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee
Value Assessment Committee
National Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee (annual formulary review)
Therapeutic Assessment Committee — The Therapeutic Assessment Committee (TAC) is an internal
clinical review body, consisting of clinical pharmacists and physicians who are employed by Express Scripts.
From a formulary development perspective, the committee is tasked to review specific medications following
approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before discussing a new drug at TAC, Express
Scripts’ clinical team conducts a search of the medical literature, evaluates published data from clinical
trials, and develops comprehensive drug evaluation summary documents. The drug evaluation documents
are developed with the aid of a wide range of resources including, but not limited to: primary literature,
clinical practice guidelines, and FDA-approved package inserts. The drug evaluation documents include, at
a minimum: a summary of the pharmacology, safety, efficacy, dosage, mode of administration, and the
relative place in therapy of the medication under review compared to other pharmacologic alternatives.
Following a review of the drug evaluation summary document, TAC ultimately provides a formulary
placement recommendation which is shared with the Express Scripts’ National Pharmacy and Therapeutics
(P&T) Committee. TAC formulary recommendations are merely a suggestion and cannot be formally
implemented without the approval of the P&T Committee.
National Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee — The Express Scripts’ National P&T Committee is a
group of independent, actively practicing physicians and pharmacists who are not employed by Express
Scripts. The P&T Committee is tasked to review medications from a purely clinical perspective. The
Committee does not have access to, nor does it consider, any information regarding Express
Scripts' rebates/negotiated discounts, or the net cost of the drug after application of all discounts.
The Committee does not use price, in any way, to make formulary placement decisions. The Express
Scripts’ P&T Committee reviews a much broader range of formulary placement topics than TAC, including:
new drug evaluations, new FDA-approved indications for existing drugs, new clinical line extensions, and
new published or clinical practice trends that may impact previous formulary placement decisions.
For new drug evaluations, the P&T Committee reviews the relevant drug evaluation summary documents as
well as the formulary placement recommendation from TAC. In addition, members of the P&T Committee
provide their insight into the quality of the published literature, share their clinical practice experience, and
assess the relative place in therapy of the medication and therapy class. The P&T Committee can establish
one of the following three formulary placement designations: include, exclude, or optional from a formulary.
Drugs with a designation of include are recommended for placement on all formularies. Drugs may be
given an include designation for one or more of the following clinical reasons: unique indication for use
addressing a clinically significant unmet treatment need, efficacy superior to that of existing therapy
alternatives, a safety profile superior to that of existing therapy alternatives, a unique place in therapy,
and/or drugs which treat medical conditions that necessitate individualized therapy and for which there are
multiple treatment options. Drugs with an exclude designation are not recommended for formulary
inclusion. Drugs may be given an exclude designation for one or more of the following clinical reasons:
efficacy inferior to that of existing therapy alternatives, a safety profile inferior to that of existing therapy
alternatives, and/or insufficient data to evaluate the drug. Medications recalled from the market for safety
reasons take an automatic exclude status, and are formally reviewed at the next P&T Committee meeting.
Drugs may also be designated as optional on a formulary. Drugs may be given an optional designation
based on the conclusion that they are clinically similar to other currently available drug alternatives. Optional
medications are forwarded to the Value Assessment Committee for further analysis.
Value Assessment Committee — The Value Assessment Committee (VAC) considers the value of drugs
by evaluating the net cost, market share, and drug utilization trends of clinically similar medications. VAC
consists of Express Scripts' employees from formulary management, product management, finance, and
clinical account management. No member of VAC can serve in any capacity on TAC (and vice-versa). VAC
reviews drugs designated as optional by the P&T Committee, and develops a formulary placement
recommendation. VAC is required to add medications with an include designation to formulary, while drugs
with an exclude designation are not added to formulary. In both cases, economic considerations are
superseded by the clinical requirements of the P&T Committee. Once complete, formulary placement
recommendations are then forwarded to the P&T Committee for final approval.
National Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee (Annual Review) — On an annual basis, the National
P&T Committee will review the final formulary recommendations, by drug class, for the upcoming plan year.
The Committee utilizes this opportunity to ensure adherence to previously established formulary placement
recommendations, and to recommend any additional changes to ensure that the formulary is clinically
appropriate.
National Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee: Overview
The Express Scripts National P&T Committee consists of 15 physicians and one pharmacist from active
community and academic-based practices representing a broad range of medical specialties. The
Committee is chaired by an elected member. Two Express Scripts registered pharmacists, an Express
Scripts Medical Director, and the Chief Medical Officer provide staff support to the Committee.
The following medical and pharmacy specialties are represented on Express Scripts’ P&T Committee:
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Allergy & Asthma
Cardiology
Dermatology
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
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Geriatrics
Geriatric Pharmacy
Internal Medicine (two members)
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Oncology
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Ophthalmology
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Pulmonology
Rheumatology
Members are selected by the Committee based on:
1.
2.
3.
4.
contributions to the medical and pharmacy literature
national recognition in their specialty
involvement in clinical (patient care) practice (membership prerequisite)
previous experience with P&T committees
Members of the Express Scripts’ National P&T Committee receive a stipend for preparation for and
participation in the meetings. The stipend amount is based on a reasonable estimate of revenue lost by not
seeing patients while out of the office for meeting attendance and preparation. New committee members are
elected by current members of the Committee. Members serve for a three-year term and are eligible for reappointment by the Committee. At the beginning of each Committee meeting, members disclose potential
and actual conflicts of interest by declaring any relationships with pharmaceutical manufacturers and Part D
plan sponsors, including membership on advisory boards, participation on speakers’ bureaus, receipt of
research grants, and stock ownership. Prior to each meeting, a subgroup of the P&T Committee or
Membership Subcommittee reviews all member disclosure information and determines if a conflict of
interest exists. Members who are determined to have conflicts of interest are prohibited from participating in
the final discussion and voting process for medications or manufacturers where a conflict exists. In the event
a conflict of interest is determined to be so significant that a member of the Committee is unable to
participate in most proceedings, the member will be asked to resign from the Committee.
The P&T Committee meets at least quarterly to evaluate drugs for addition to or deletion from the formulary.
If necessary, mail ballots may be used to seek committee member comments and approval for new clinical
designations between meetings (e.g., following FDA approval of a therapeutic-breakthrough drug).
How Express Scripts Plan Sponsors Manage Their Formularies
Express Scripts’ plan sponsors often adopt Express Scripts-developed formularies as their own or use them
as the foundation for their own custom formularies. Among the more than 70 therapeutic categories,
custom formularies can vary in the number of brand-name drugs per category and in the extent to which the
pharmacy benefit is managed in each category.
Formulary control levels are specified through benefit design. At one end of the spectrum is the open
formulary. With an open formulary, the plan sponsor pays a portion of the cost for all drugs, regardless of
formulary status, although a plan sponsor may choose to exclude certain products, such as ‘lifestyle’ drugs,
from coverage. At the other end of the spectrum is the closed formulary. With a closed formulary, nonformulary drugs are not covered unless approved via a formulary exclusion override process. Between
these two alternatives, a plan sponsor can implement differential copays (as with a three-tier benefit design)
or other financial incentives to encourage participants to use preferred formulary drugs, but will still pay a
portion of the cost of the non-preferred drug.
For example, a plan sponsor using a three-tier benefit design may elect to manage a particular therapeutic
category by making all generics in that category available at the first-tier copay level and preferred branded
products available at the second-tier copay level. Non-preferred, non-formulary products could be placed
on the third tier — available, but at a higher copay.
After first taking into account clinical considerations, plan sponsors consider cost in making their formulary
choices. Generally, the fewer the drugs offered on the formulary and the greater the incentives to use the
formulary’s preferred drugs, the higher the discounts available from manufacturers and, therefore, the lower
the cost to the plan sponsor. All formularies offer generics at the lowest cost and typically include the vast
majority of available generic products.
Express Scripts is able to administer lower-cost prescription drug benefits for plan sponsors in part because
of the rebates that ESI receives from manufacturers. A rebate is simply a retrospective payment that is paid
to ESI pursuant to rebate contracts negotiated independently by ESI with pharmaceutical
manufacturers and directly attributable to the utilization of certain pharmaceuticals by our client’s
members. Many factors can affect the amount of the rebate, but in general, higher rebates are achieved
when a plan sponsor adopts a formulary and plan design that provides greater incentives to its participants
to use a formulary (preferred) drug.
Accessing Non-Formulary Medications
Express Scripts encourages plan sponsors to develop formulary systems that enable individual patient
needs to be met with non-formulary drug products when demonstrated to be clinically justified by the
physician or other prescriber. Generally speaking, plan sponsors should offer an efficient process for the
timely procurement of non-formulary drug products, impose minimal administrative burdens, and provide
access to a formal appeal process if request for a non-formulary drug is denied.
Due to the variability in plan sponsor benefit design, Express Scripts encourages individual patients who are
attempting to access a non-formulary medication for clinical purposes to contact the phone number, mailing
address or website outlined on their prescription drug card. The decision to cover non-formulary
medications, as well as the mechanism by which it is administered, is entirely determined by the plan
sponsor; not Express Scripts.
Express Scripts Formulary Compliance Programs
Express Scripts’ plan sponsors also achieve formulary management through participation in one of Express
Scripts' Formulary Compliance programs. These programs help plan sponsors reduce overall prescription
drug costs by encouraging utilization of preferred drugs (generics and formulary brand name medications)
through intervention strategies.
Express Scripts never recommends changing to a higher-cost drug, but it may suggest an equally-effective,
lower-cost drug (typically, a generic) before a more expensive brand name alternative. The Express Scripts
formulary compliance programs provide clear information about formulary drugs to all of the participants in
the prescription-dispensing process. For example, when a prescription for a drug that is not on the
member’s formulary is taken to a retail pharmacy in our network, the claims processing system notifies
the pharmacist of comparable drugs that are covered by the member’s plan. The pharmacist can then work
with the member and the prescriber to replace the originally-prescribed drug with an appropriate formulary
product, if possible. A second example is our formulary notification program. The formulary notification
program sends targeted letters to members who are taking a maintenance medication that will soon become
non-formulary. These notifications frequently include a list of clinically similar, formulary alternatives. The
member can take this type of communication to their physician, and determine if a formulary alternative is
right for them. The third type of formulary support tool includes Express Scripts’ web-based tools. Express
Scripts and/or the members’ plan sponsor provides a suite of online resources including: copies of the
formulary, relative price comparisons of therapeutic alternatives, and information about which drugs have a
generic equivalent.
Conclusion
Prescription drug costs, which represent more than 10 percent of the overall healthcare dollar, continue to
increase for a variety of complex reasons. As a result, the job of managing the pharmacy benefit has
become an essential element of the overall healthcare management equation. Left unmanaged, plan
sponsors’ costs would rise at faster rates, with the likely ultimate result of reduced benefits and higher costs
to consumers.
Affordable access to a clinically sound, high-quality pharmacy benefit depends on sophisticated, carefully
constructed cost-control strategies — strategies that always place patients and their physicians first. The
processes Express Scripts uses to develop formularies have been constructed to ensure that clinical
considerations are paramount and fully taken into account before cost considerations. Express Scripts has
also implemented one of the industry's most unique cost-lowering rebate policies — one which ensures that
each drug is considered individually on its own merits with the active involvement of our plan sponsors.
Finally, Express Scripts’ has a number of tools (formulary, plan design, and clinical programs) to ensure that
plan sponsors maximize the use of lower cost, clinically-equivalent generic medications. By combining the
solutions above, plan sponsors can continue to offer a fair, clinically appropriate, and financially responsible
pharmacy benefit.
Revised April 2015